


Irreplaceable

by steggyisimmortal



Series: Shield and Gun [7]
Category: Agent Carter (TV), Captain America (Movies)
Genre: 1st POV, 3rd pov, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Fix It Fic, look who ain't dead, steve probably would have been promoted by now but captain just goes so well with his name
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-14
Updated: 2017-07-14
Packaged: 2018-12-02 06:57:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11504112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/steggyisimmortal/pseuds/steggyisimmortal
Summary: My baby sister is hiding something from me.She’s never been good at keeping secrets from me but so many years apart has undoubtedly taught her new skills.





	Irreplaceable

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to gatorjen for proofreading this for me many moons ago. 
> 
> I played around with the POVs in this one so I apologize if you have to read it a few times to understand who's talking. 
> 
> Inspired by the lines: _"Call up that chick and see if she’s home. Oops, I betcha thought that I didn’t know."_ AND _"Baby I won’t shed a tear for you. I won’t lose a wink of sleep because the truth of the matter is replacing you is so easy."_

* * *

 

My baby sister is hiding something from me.

 

She’s never been good at keeping secrets from me but so many years apart has undoubtedly taught her new skills. 

 

I haven’t been able to see her as much as I’d like but our infrequent letters have assured me she’s kept safe.  It’s been dreadful having the family in different places during this time but I’m just grateful we all made it out alive. 

 

She got a different job at some point, something outside the SOE.  I’ve tried to pull it out of her on several occasions but she never lets a detail slip.  She’s good, my sister.  I’m proud of her.  Whatever this new job is of hers, it’s taught her how to hide secrets from her big brother.  I’ll fish it out of her eventually.  I always do.  She’s never been a good liar around me.

 

I haven’t even seen her since the end of the war.  We met briefly at an old pub near our house about a month before VE Day.  She seemed rather gloomy but she wouldn’t tell me why.  I concluded she must have recently lost someone close to her.  God knows I’d lost plenty of friends to the fight by that point, a few more since.  It never got easier.  She had to leave before we really had much of a chance to get into anything.  Just a quick ‘hello, how are you’ before the flash of two men at the door had her jumping out of her chair after them.  She didn’t seem to feel threatened the way she dashed out but I still wish I’d gotten a better look at them.  All I could make out was a trench coat blowing in the wind and what looked like a bowler hat. 

 

Keeping in contact lately has been difficult.  It’s been over a year since our last meeting.  But when she left a letter saying she lived in New York now I knew it was time to make my inaugural visit.

 

* * *

 

 “Does he know he’s meeting me?”

 

“Um, yes?”

 

“He doesn’t know anything about meeting me?!”

 

“Well, I didn’t know how to tell him.  The last meeting was disastrous.  You can understand my trepidation.  My brother’s opinion has always been important to me.”

 

“Yeah, I guess but – wait, the last meeting?”

 

“That’s a story for another day, darling.  I’m afraid I can only focus on this right now.”

 

* * *

 

 I didn’t think I’d like New York but it’s much better than I imagined.  Some of the sidewalks are a little dirty - trash lined in the crevice where concrete meets steel - but I’m trying to overlook that.  It’s not like London’s ready to put on a show right now.

 

Peggy said she was bringing someone to dinner.  The moment I heard her say that my mind had flashbacks to Fred.  I was baffled when I received the letter mentioning her recent engagement to Fred.  I knew she was seeing someone but I never thought she’d agree to marriage. 

 

She’s always been a free spirit.  I love that about her.  I always figured she’d conquer the world before settling down.  She was never one to conform to the social norms.  She despises them.  I thinks that’s why I’m so surprised she wants me to meet someone.  Leave it to Peggy to find her next beau during a war.

 

I wonder who he is, what his role was.  He must be terribly important to her if she’s ready to introduce him to me.  Especially after the disaster that was Fred.

 

* * *

 

 “Do you think he’ll like me?  Do I look okay?”

 

“Darling, you look handsome as always.  I’m amazed you didn’t wear your dress uniform.”

 

“I woulda if I’d known the truth!”

 

“Oh, not this again.” 

 

“It’s just-I’m nervous.”

 

“You?  Captain America?  The man who’s knocked out Adolph Hitler over two hundred times?”

 

“Damn, I told Monty not to tell you that story.”

 

“Show me one of the Commandos that can keep from sharing embarrassing stories when he’s drunk.”

 

“----”

 

“Exactly.  You’re worse than a group of old women who have nothing better to do with their time.”

 

“Anyway, I’m still nervous.  I want him to like me.  He’s not gonna hit me, is he?  Bucky met a girl’s brother once and he decked him.  ‘Course, Bucky had been puttin’ the moves on her right before her brother showed up.”

 

“So don’t put the moves on me in front of my brother.  Although, that would make dinner much more enjoyable for me.”

 

“Peggy – "

 

"Steve, stop fretting; I’m sure he’ll love you.  It’s most likely me he’ll be cross with.”

 

* * *

 

 It’s not that I oppose her getting married.  I think she’d be a wonderful wife and mother.  One day. 

 

What I vehemently oppose are men like Fred.

 

Men born with a silver spoon in their mouth who wouldn’t know an honest day’s work if it bit them on the ass.  Men who expected everything to be handed to them.  Who expected to take the credit of others without a single sleepless night.  For their wives to do everything while they sat back and complained how tiring their desk job was.  Who looked at every woman that walked past and didn’t think twice before breaking his wedding vows. 

 

I knew what Fred was doing behind her back.  An old chap of mine from secondary school was friends with a chap of Fred’s.  Get a few drinks in us and we were worse gossips than the Murphy sisters. 

 

I glance at my watch.  I’m a tad early but Peggy’s always had a habit of being late to our meetings.  In her defense, I’d wanted to make sure I found the restaurant.  These New York streets left me feeling baffled and I’d heard from friends that the traffic here was atrocious.  I’m glad to see they weren’t liars. 

 

* * *

 

 “Why would he be mad at you?”

 

“He’ll undoubtedly wonder why I didn’t tell him sooner.  We tell each other everything.”

 

“Well, I know you’re not ashamed of me.”

 

“I could never be ashamed of you.  I suppose I just wanted to keep you all to myself.  Enough people knew about us anyway despite our efforts to hide it -”

 

“I really didn’t know they were gonna use that footage.  Dugan threatened them before they left but they obviously didn’t think he meant it.”

 

“-and I don’t think I was ready to hear what Michael had to say on the subject considering the last time.”

 

“If you’re gonna keep bringing it up, you gotta tell me something about it.”

 

“Later, darling, later.  It’s not important anyway.  Simply an avoided mistake.”

 

* * *

 

 Hmm, this seems like a very popular restaurant.  Very bright.  Very artistic.  I feel as though I’m actually in the room with these celebrities and not just with images of their likeness.  Except that one.  I can’t tell who that’s even supposed to be.  Maybe he’s local.

 

I resist the urge to check my watch again.  It’ll do me no good.  I shouldn’t have left the hotel so early. 

 

Truth be told, I am a bit nervous.  What if I don’t like the man?  She didn’t say who she was bringing when she asked me to supper but I don’t think Peggy will be showing up with one of the girlfriends she’s made in New York.  My opinion of the man obviously means nothing and I know my sister.  She’ll do whatever she wants, opinions be damned. 

 

Oh, that looks like her now.  She looks beautiful as ever.  It’s so relieving to see her in person again, to assure myself with my own eyes that she came out of the war unscathed.  That she’s alive and whole.  That she’s actually standing in front of me and not just a possible illusion my mind made up to play tricks on me. 

 

She’s looking at the faces in the restaurant so I stand and wave so she can see me.  She finds me immediately and smiles widely.  She’s alone, though.  I could have sworn she said she was bringing someone. 

 

She turns around for a split second, her head turning this way and that, searching for something. 

 

No, not something.

 

Someone.

 

My god, that man is massive. 

 

* * *

 

 Peggy waited for the maître d’ to finish thanking Steve before she looped her arm through his again and marched him towards Michael.

 

He looked just as dashing as she remembered.  Like Steve, he’d chosen not to wear his uniform.  She wouldn’t tell either of them but it relieved her.  She didn’t want it to turn into a test of machismo somehow.  She just knew Michael would try to size Steve up and try to get a rise out of him.  She knew her brother only wanted the best for her but it was terribly frustrating sometimes.

 

“I was beginning to think you were going to stand me up, Peg,” Michael mused when Peggy and Steve arrived at the table.  “Nice to know your punctuality hasn’t gotten any better.”

 

Peggy pinched his side when he went in to hug her.  “I just like to keep you guessing.”

 

She pulled back to get a good look at him.  He looked just as she remembered – clean shaven, bright eyed, and like he was trying to charm the king out of his job.  To her surprise, she felt her eyes welling up with emotion.

 

“It’s so wonderful to see you again, Michael.”

 

He smiled and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

 

“You too, Peg.  You haven’t changed a bit.”

 

Michael turned his attention to Steve standing stiff as an oak with a timid grin on his face.

 

“It seems you come bearing gifts,” he chuckled, trying to ease Steve’s discomfort.  He glanced back at Peggy, “And to think, I didn’t bring you anything.”

 

Peggy slapped his arm gently before reaching back to pull Steve against her side. 

 

“Michael, I’d like you to meet Captain Steve Rogers.  Steve, my brother Agent Michael Carter.”

 

The two men extended hands, Michael looking perplexed at the name.  Neither Steve nor Peggy said a word; they waited for him to finish make the connection. 

 

Michael’s eyes went wide when it clicked, his mouth gaping open like a fish for a second before he shut it.

 

“My g-you’re,” he stuttered around for a moment before clicking his heels together.  “Well, Peg, you certainly run in the right circles, I’ll give you that.”

 

* * *

 

 I can’t help but smirk while my baby sister watches Steve walk to the bar to fetch a top up on our drinks.

 

“Like what you see, sis?”

 

She rolls her eyes.  “As a matter of fact I do.”

 

I can’t stop my laughter at her honesty.  She never was one to hide her opinion. 

 

“Far be it from me to distract you from a national treasure.  Please continue.”

 

She slaps my arm but returns her attention to me.  I try to focus on the rest of my meal to avoid her pensive stare.  I know she’s about to ask me for my opinion; that’s why Steve so graciously left the table.  She hadn’t asked him for a new drink.  Their eyes had caught for a fleeting moment - a glance so brief I never would have caught it had I not been looking directly at my sister - and off Steve went like the good man he is. 

 

“So?  What do you think?” I hear her say in a manner all too familiar.  Suddenly it’s seven years ago.

 

This time I don’t feel so torn about offering her my honest opinion.

 

“I think every woman in the world wants to scratch your eyes out for staking claim to such a specimen.”

 

She rolls her eyes at me.  “Michael,” she warns me in a tone that reminds me of our mothers.  “I’m serious.”

 

“So am I.  Have you ever seen a woman swoon looking at his picture in the paper?  It’s quite the sight to see.  Doesn’t give a normal man much confidence in his own abilities.”

 

“Michael,” she said again but I can hear her trying not to laugh.

 

Truth is I love Steve Rogers.  Not in the same manner as my sister, I’m sure, but he’s a man impossible not to love.  He’s polite, thoughtful, kind, articulate, stubborn, opinionated, devastatingly handsome, and absolutely perfect for my sister.

 

I remember reading reports of him disobeying orders so many times that Captain America simply became a dog on a very long leash.  I heard he formed his own team of criminals, as my superior was fond of saying, instead of the recommended squad men higher up handpicked. 

 

Listening to Steve and his stories, watching him and my sister, I don’t think I’ve ever met people more right for each other.  

 

“He’s certainly better than Fred, I’ll give you that.” 

 

I’m teasing her of course.  He’s leaps and bounds better than Fred.

 

“Did you really think I was going to stay with a cheat?” she says bluntly.

 

My shock must register on my face because she actually laughs at me.

 

“You knew?”

 

“Of course I knew,” she tells me.  “He was far from stealthy, though he undoubtedly thought no one would ever find out.  Why do you think it was so easy to leave?  Men like Fred won’t change.”

 

I don’t know why I’m so surprised she knew of his transgressions.  No one can lie to her.  She’ll sniff it out faster than a dog can sniff out a cat. 

 

Fred liked to think he was a real catch but the truth was he fell far below the line of average.   The real catch is Peggy.  Men have always fallen over their feet for her attention and she never gave any of them the time of day.  For Steve Rogers to catch her attention I know he has to be a good man. 

 

“And he was incredibly boring,” she finishes airily.  It’s her way of letting me know that she’s moons over the matter.  “Life with him would have been terribly dull.”

 

“Yes, I should imagine life will never be dull now with Captain America.”

 

She smiles sweetly.  “No, it’s not.”

 

I don’t think I’ve ever seen my sister like this – in love.  She positively glows whenever she speaks about him.

 

“Is he the love of your life?” I ask.

 

“He is,” she nods.

 

I tap the table with my hand.  “Excellent, because I honestly don’t think I’ve ever met a nicer chap.”

 

“Good.  Because he’s my husband.”

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
